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Honda launches new "Clarity" fuel cell vehicle in Japan

Xinhua, March 10, 2016 Adjust font size:

Honda Motor Co., Japan's third-largest automaker, on Thursday rolled out a new fuel cell vehicle, marking the first zero-emissions five-seater to hit the market with the maker eyeing government agencies and businesses to be among the first of its customers.

The five-seater "Clarity Fuel Cell" will be leased to the Environment Ministry, and other businesses, Honda said Thursday, adding that it had set a sales target of 200 units in the first year of the vehicle, which boasts a price tag of 7.66 million yen (67,346 U.S. dollars).

The Tokyo-based automaker along with saying that the Clarity will be available in its U.S. and European markets towards the end of this year, also said its pioneering model had an impressive range and refueling time, stating that it could travel up to 70 km on a full tank, which can be refilled in three minutes.

The range outstrips that of rival Toyota's four-seater Mirai, which was the world's first mass-produced hydrogen vehicle, with a range of up to 650 km, giving Honda the top spot for a sedan in terms of size and range, with the automaker saying its future may well lie in hydrogen powered vehicles.

"We believe FCVs (Fuel Cell Vehicles) have potential to become an alternative to gasoline-powered vehicles in terms of mobility and to address issues related to climate change," Honda President Takahiro Hachigo told a press event on Thursday.

Hachigo's remarks follow those he made in February stating that with Honda's advancements in the reduction of size and increase in power of its fuel cell technology, that by 2030, emission-less vehicles, including electric cars and FCVs, will comprise some two-thirds of its sales.

Ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the government and manufacturers are eyeing what's been dubbed a "hydrogen society" in the years ahead, as the government is looking to renewable sources and clean energy as part of its energy policy mix, that, since the Fukushima disaster in 2011, seeks to have nuclear energy account for 20 percent of the nation's power by 2030.

But, as has been the case with charging points for electric cars, Japan will need to invest heavily in hydrogen-linked infrastructure to see its emission-less society come to fruition and the hefty price tag of FCVs like the Clarity may, for the time being, be a prohibitive factor. Endit